Why is this article on the BBC?
August 21, 2015 1:28 AM   Subscribe

I noticed this "news" article on the BBC, which isn't newsworthy, and reads like an advert. It's not even introducing a new category of product. Why is it on there? Is this a paid placement?
posted by gorcha to Media & Arts (27 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Many of those technology stories read like adverts. I don't think BBC online is held to the same standards as TV or radio and I suppose it gets the bills paid.
posted by epo at 1:36 AM on August 21, 2015


It looks like a spoof news story that has created the form of a BBC page and links to the actual BBC if you try to navigate it. I've seen articles like this before. Note that you can't get to it from the BBC technology page.
posted by Laura_J at 1:45 AM on August 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


Note that you can't get to it from the BBC technology page.

You can if you search for the product name from the BBC news page.

I think I might write a complaint, this does seem like advertising.
posted by antiwiggle at 1:57 AM on August 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


I would suggest winterhill is correct. Additionally, "mainstream" tech journalism is more or less product reviews. The BBC tries to emulate populist forms all over the place under the "entertain" part of their remit.

I'd prefer it if they didn't. Especially when they publish this kind of advertorial.
posted by CjEggett at 2:00 AM on August 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Does anyone know if tthere is some kind of approval process for these advertorials, or can a journalist publish anything they like?
posted by gorcha at 3:04 AM on August 21, 2015


Yeah, that's pretty bad. I lodged an online complaint.
posted by modernnomad at 3:48 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've seen loads of "articles" on BBC News that are basically just adverts. Its appalling but its been going on for years
posted by missmagenta at 3:58 AM on August 21, 2015


I've also stuck in a complaint, will let you know if I get an answer.
posted by biffa at 4:16 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Looking on the mobile site it says "Advertisment" right at the top in a grey strip below the red BBC area. So I think that's a yes.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:26 AM on August 21, 2015


> if tthere is some kind of approval process for these advertorials, or can a journalist publish anything they like?

That is an editor. Sometimes the editor does the job well, sometimes not.
posted by megatherium at 4:28 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Looking on the mobile site it says "Advertisment" right at the top in a grey strip below the red BBC area.

That's just indicating a standard banner ad above the story for non-UK visitors. The story is... what winterhill says it is.
posted by holgate at 5:19 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Note that Fitbit has been spellchecked into "Misfit" in the headline and multiple times in the story (at the moment at least). Doesn't look like much thought went into it, basically a copy and paste and spellcheck.
posted by teg at 5:51 AM on August 21, 2015


Note that Fitbit has been spellchecked into "Misfit" in the headline and multiple times in the story (at the moment at least). Doesn't look like much thought went into it, basically a copy and paste and spellcheck.

No, Misfit is another brand of activity tracker and this article is about them.
posted by kate blank at 5:54 AM on August 21, 2015 [7 favorites]


Does anyone know if there is some kind of approval process for these advertorials, or can a journalist publish anything they like?

It's not an advertorial. It's a story cropped together from a press release. The two are not the same. Dozens of variations on this story were hacked together from the same press release by dozens of tech news outlets on the 18th because it's tech news.

I am genuinely not seeing your beef here.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:42 AM on August 21, 2015 [7 favorites]


I used to write press releases, and this is pretty much what they're designed to accomplish. They're just advertising material you're trying to get passed off as journalism. (Also, the quotes in press releases, in my experience, are just a way to get the more obvious marketing speak snuck in there. The writer writes those and then gets approval from the people they're attributing them to.)

Honestly, although I participated in the practice for a while, I never really understood why it was considered OK, especially when they'd just make minor changes to them and add their own byline. So I think it's a reasonable thing to complain about as a reader.
posted by ernielundquist at 8:23 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


The URL is a legit BBC address. It's not a mock page with links to the BBC.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:27 AM on August 21, 2015


Seconding the press release hypothesis. Tech journalists are perpetually advertising mainly because their job is to report on innovative tech, and the easiest source of that is people who are selling their tech on the basis that it's supposedly innovative. Or maybe just innovative at a consumer market price, as is the case here, since the article acknowledges that this is neither the first nor the most sophisticated such device on the market.

What's absent from this article is an actual journalism, such as getting the swim function tested independently. It looks like the journalist went so far as to look to see if there was public informaiton about Misfit's finances, and also did a NEXIS search and found part of an interview in the South China Morning Post.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:12 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


That is an editor. Sometimes the editor does the job well, sometimes not.

And some sites have taken to letting some writers publish directly, with editors cleaning up the complaints afterwards, in order not to pay editors. I have no idea if this is the case at the BBC, just saying.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:41 AM on August 21, 2015


The BBC is impressively good at taking complaints and addressing them. Check out the program Feedback: you might want to write to them and see if there is an official response.
posted by troytroy at 11:34 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


BBC Complaints website.
posted by fullerine at 12:13 PM on August 21, 2015


Got a response to say they aim to respond in 10 days an that they have passed it on to someone else, who may take longer than 10 days to respond.
posted by biffa at 3:39 AM on August 30, 2015


Response from my complaint:
Dear Mr --------

Reference ----------------------

Thanks for contacting us regarding the BBC News website.

We’re sorry to note you were unhappy with this article in the Technology news section:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33975173

The article does note that “Garmin, TomTom and Timex are among firms that already sell watches that can count swimming laps” and that “the Speedo Shine stands out from the other "mainstream" activity trackers in offering the facility [counting swimmers' lengths].”

We’re sorry if you didn’t consider this product release newsworthy but please know the BBC is prohibited by the terms of its Charter from advertising. Specifically we are not permitted to accept income or benefit financially by promoting the goods of outside companies.

Thank you for your feedback about BBC News. Please know complaints are sent to senior management and news teams every morning and we’ve included your points in our overnight reports. These reports are among the most widely read sources of feedback in the BBC and ensure that complaints are seen quickly by the right people. This helps inform their decisions about current and future reporting.

Kind regards

Stuart Webb

BBC Complaints
posted by antiwiggle at 3:33 AM on August 31, 2015


Response by poster: @antiwiggle thanks for the update. What a strange reply you got.
posted by gorcha at 4:48 AM on August 31, 2015


I don't know in what way it is strange; it seems precisely responsive to me.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:23 PM on August 31, 2015


Response by poster: It's strange because the product is not unique, even though they say it is, and whether or not they accept income or benefit financially, what they published is a lightly reworded press release.
posted by gorcha at 1:57 AM on September 1, 2015


Yes, I might ask them about the press release.
posted by antiwiggle at 11:54 AM on September 2, 2015


I got exactly the same reply
posted by fullerine at 2:38 AM on September 26, 2015


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